Of Love and Life: Fire and Sparks Part 1
by Rock It Raccoon
Summary: Part 1. This story chronicles the hardship and struggle endured by a female flareon Mrs. Duval, and her son Michael, a gay flareon as they try to find love amid the chaos of war. Multiple authors put time and effort into this work. Please detail Reviews.


He couldn't find Michael at the lake they were at earlier and fear went across his face, wondering what happened to him. Panicked, he dropped onto the ground and looked into the sky, his face beginning to swell up with tears, but then he remembered something, something important. He got up and ran back to town as fast he could, trying to find where the Flareon lived.

When he reached the town, he looked for the familiar oak house from where he had hung out with Michael as a kid, the familiar red picket fence, and large backyard with the small pond full of Feebas, yet with that thought, he wondered if the Feebas have actually grown over the years he's been away. But now wasn't the time to think about fish, he needed to find Michael before something horrible happened to him.

"Dammit... Where is he?" Manny mumbled to himself frantically as he looked around quickly for the oak house while running down the towns streets. He was sweating as his own fear grew as to what happened to the sweet Flareon, if he did anything that was extreme to himself. And then he spotted it, the same house from all those years ago with that red picket fence and the large oak house, different in some way, but all the same to him. Running towards the fence he jumped over it and ran up the cobblestone pathway to the door, but before knocking he tried to make himself look better for whomever came to the door, even Michael.

Manny proceeded to put his closed fist up to the door, and knock once, twice, three times. And as he waited for someone to answer the door, he couldn't help thinking about how the kind Flareon came out to him, wanting to be his lover, and how Manny stupidly rejected him. He thought to himself, "Why did I do that, I'm such an idiot for doing that... please. Please be ok-" His thought was cut short as the door opened and there stood a female Flareon, who was Michael's mother.

But before she could even speak, Manny blurted out, "Is Michael here? I need to see him!" But, due to the sweat on his fur and the heavy breathing of his lungs, she couldnt hear him too well.

Confused, she asked, "Is everything alright? Do you need a glass of water, Manny? You seem out of breath."

Surprised by her saying his name, and realizing the situation he was in, he said, "Y-Yes please Mrs. Duval... Th-that would be appriciated. May I come in?"

"Of course! Come on in."

He headed inside, looking around for Michael, but didnt see him in the immidiate area, he must have went to his room, unless he went somewhere else. "Excuse me Mrs. Duval, is-"

"Yes he's here, but upstairs in his room crying. Would you care to sit down for a few minutes?" she asked as she held 2 glasses of water.

"I'm not sure, but I guess it couldn't hurt," he said with a nervous smile after sitting down.

After handing Manny his glass of water, she asked, "How have you been these past couple of years? Life has been treating you well?"

Manny took a few sips from his drink, "Well, it's been alright, but I feel like I made a mistake and I have to fix it," he then puts his head down, "I have to fix it, Mrs. Duval. For my sake and his sake."

"I understand Manny, but I think you may find this interesting. As soon as my son heard that you got back, he was beaming with life and energy, he has also always spoken very highly of you."

"Really?" he looks up at her.

"Yes, he has. And I've known that he's had feelings for you for a long time now, and I understand your trying to fix your mistake," she says after getting a look at Manny and smiles, "You seem to look more presentable now Manny. He's upstairs, I'm sure you know where his room is."

He puts the empty glass on the table in front of him and bows, "Thank you very much Mrs. Duval, you and your husband have always been so kind. Thank you."

"Anytime, Manny," she said, smiling.

He heads towards the stairs and his ears drooped as soon as he heard Michael sobbing in his room, which he soon is in front of. The door is slightly open and he pushes it in, standing in the middle of the doorway, where he sees the Flareon with his head in a pillow, sobbing quietly.

Not knowing what to say, Manny just says, "Hey..."

Michael's ears perked up and then drooped, and he released a low growl, "Go away..."

"No," said Manny in a soft tone.

"Go away," said the Flareon again, his growling intensifying.

"No."

"... Go away."

"No."

"GO AWAY!" he throws the pillow at Manny, it being on fire a little, but misses Manny by a foot, he looks up at Manny and then puts his head into the bed and resumes sobbing.

After a minute, Manny blatantly states, "No."

A moment passes, "Why not? You apparently hate me!" said Michael in a low growling voice.

"I made a mistake..." said Manny, putting his head down.

"Damn right you did... Now go away."

"No," he takes a few breaths, "I've come to make things right."

The Flareon growled again, but stops, "Go on with what you have to say, when your done. Leave..."

He shrugs, "If you say so..." he walks over to Michaels bed and sits on it, much to Michael's dismay, "I made a mistake, in saying what I said earlier. And I realize now the feelings you have for me. I'm sorry..."

"Are you done yet?"

"No, actually. Theres more," Michael groaned as Manny said that, to which he chuckled, "The thing is, I've been having flashbacks to that day in elementary recently."

Michael's sobbing slows a bit, thinking he knows where this is going.

"You know, to the day where I protected you from all those bullies who wanted to hurt you? I now realize that was the day you started liking me, but you didn't know it was love until later. Am I right?" he asked, but Michael remained silent, "I'll take that as a yes. Well after that point, I came over to this house more often than I can remember until maybe late-middle school. And hell, up till then, I was there to help you whenever I could. I couldn't see any of my friends get hurt. But..." he pauses.

Michael looks up at him puzzled.

Manny chuckles, looking at the wall as he talked, "I actually didn't realize it until recently that I had feelings for you too. It's just that I didn't realize it until after... after..." he puts his head down, "after what I said. And that realization was overwhelming to me, and I didn't know what to think. Yet I do know one thing," he lifts his head and looks directly at Michael in the eyes, pausing and smiling at the Flareon.

"And what was it? The thing you realized?" asked Michael.

Manny waits a moment, letting Michaels expectations rise up to a certain point, and then released the revelation. "That I've loved you. For a very long time," he smiles and begins to get up, "Well I finished what I had to say, so I guess I'll be leaving now."

Michael quickly grabs Manny's paw, pulling him back to the bed, "No don't leave, not yet. I need to know if you're lying to me or not. And if you do truly love me."

Manny smiles, knowing where this is going, and looks deep into the Flareon's red eyes, "I'm not lying, not one bit, and I really do love you."

"Really?" asked the Flareon in a soft tone.

"Yes."

Michael sat up in his bed, sitting next to the Manectric, and looked deep into his crimson eyes, trying to find any trace of a lie, but he couldn't, so he smiled after wiping away his tears, "I believe you."

"I know you do," said Manny softly, putting his hand on Michael's cheek, brushing it softly with his fingers. Michael felt truly happy as Manny did that, so he moved closer to Manny, grabbing his shoulders and kissed Manny on the lips, to which Manny kissed back.

As the two held each other in their embrace, unbeknownst to them, something moved in the ventilation shaft of Michael's bedroom. The small, fleshy creature moved through the shaft slowly and methodically, keeping silent as to not draw attention to it. As Manny and Michael groped about on Michael's bed, the creature watched, patiently waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

Being absorbed in their perverse lust for one another, the two did not notice the vent opening and the vile mound of mutated flesh crawling out. Manny looked up into Michael's eyes from underneath him, and softly whispered, "I love you, Michael"

Michael responded, "I love you t-ghhhhh…"

Michael's words were cut short, replaced by a grotesque gurgling as blood ran down his lips. The necromorph's barbed tail had pierced Michael's torso from behind, showering Manny in his boyfriend's blood. As Manfred looked on in horror, the infector jabbed Michael in the forehead with its needlelike proboscis and deposited a parasitic spore into his skull. As Michael screamed, his eyes rolled back into his head. With his last remaining shred of consciousness, Michael pleaded with Manny, "Run away!"

"No." Manny replied.

"Run away!"

"No."

"QUICKLY, RUN, SAVE YOURSELF!" Michael screamed as his mind faded.

A few seconds passed, before Manny replied, "...No."

As he succumbed to the infection, Michael's body rapidly mutated into something that barely resembled his original self. His neck sharply cracked in one direction before elongating to about twice its normal length, tearing the skin surrounding it. Michael's shoulder blades jutted out of his back, shifting into sharp spears as the muscles below them grew into meaty tentacles, creating a makeshift pair of extra arms. As the transformation came to a close, the flesh on Michael's face split open in a manner not unlike a blooming onion as he leaned in toward Manny's face and let loose a primal scream.

Acting before his mind could think, Manny kicked Michael off from on top of him and got up out of Michael's bed as fast as he could. The monster that was once his lover right behind him, Manny bolted out the door as fast as he could, closing the door behind him and pressing himself up to it to keep Michael from getting to him.

"Mrs. Duval, help me! Something's happened to Michael! He's turned into some kind of monster!"

"Manny, dear, I know Mikey can be a little aggressive with boys he likes, but I'm sure it's not anything to worry about", Mrs. Duval responded, blissfully unaware of her only son's transformation into a mere shell of a Flareon being.

"No, I mean literally! He's mutated into some kind of beast! Please, don't ask questions, just help me!"

A chill ran down Manny's spine as a bladed tentacle punched through the door, leaving a splintered hole mere inches away from where his head had been. Manny ran through the hallway and down the stairs, the wooden barrier stalling Michael for but a few precious moments.

Manny found Mrs. Duval downstairs in the kitchen, where she belongs, with her revolver she kept in her purse in hand. She wasn't sure if Manny was kidding about her son, but had loaded her gun just in case. Her hands trembled while she thought about having to possibly kill her only child, or at least what was left of him.

Manny ran up to Mrs. Duval and grabbed a knife off the kitchen table, just in case the situation became appropriately desperate.

Hot tears ran down Mrs. Duval's face as she saw what had become of her child.

"M-Michael? Is that you?" Mrs. Duval whimpered.

Michael's mind could no longer recognize the woman before him, nor could he understand the words she was saying. The only thing he saw and heard was new genetic material to assimilate into the necromorph horde.

Mrs. Duval aimed the gun at Michael, but her eyes couldn't see through the tears, and her hands were shaking like a girl's butt in an Usher music video. She managed to fire off a shot, but she missed, the recoil of the gun knocking her to the ground and causing her to smack her head on the drawer, knocking her unconscious.

Manny grabbed the gun from Mrs. Duval's limp hand and pointed it at Michael, who was slowly approaching, tentacles at the ready. Manny struggled to gather the nerve to shoot the most important person in his life.

"Michael! I know you're still in there somewhere! Please, I don't want to hurt you! You have to take control back!"

But Michael was already gone. Manny's words meant nothing to Michael, who simply responded by moving ever closer and screaming. Manny realized that the one he loved was dead, and that he and Mrs. Duval would be too if he didn't kill this mindless beast. Manny steadied his aim and fired a round into Michael's chest, which sent the flareon reeling back. Manny fired again, hitting Michael in the leg. The flareon boy's legs gave out, making him kneel inadvertently. Manny slowly walked up to Michael with tears in his eyes and placed the barrel of the revolver up to Michael's head.

"I'm sorry, Michael... I love you"

Manny pulled the trigger. Hot lead flew out of the barrel faster than the eye could see, puncturing Michael's skull and painting the wall with Michael's brains. Manny's only friend stopped moving, his body going limp.

Manny felt numb, and stood dumbfounded for a minute before remembering that Mrs. Duval had knocked herself out. Manny ran to the unconscious flareon lady who lay with her back against the drawer. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her in an effort to wake her. Mrs. Duval slowly regained consciousness as she was jostled by her dead son's gay boyfriend.

"uggghh... Manny?"

Mrs. Duval looked around dazed, but quickly remembered the gravity of the situation when she saw the lifeless body of Michael. Tears filled her eyes once again as she grabbed Manny and hugged him as hard as she could. Manny was surprised by the embrace, but soon returned it to comfort Mrs. Duval, but more importantly, to comfort himself.

"Oh, Manny! My little Michael is dead!" Mrs. Duval wailed. She lay her head on Manny's neck, soaking it in her tears.

Being held by a woman was an experience Manny had never had before, and though he didn't care to admit it to himself, he rather liked it. He especially liked the softness of her chest pressing against his, and her gentle, feminine voice, which was much more pleasing to the ears than Michael's nasally squawking. Manny's heart began to beat faster, while his breathing became stronger and his face began to blush. Mrs. Duval noticed these things happening to Manny, as well as to herself.

Mrs. Duval broke the embrace and looked Manny in the eyes. Manny felt embarrassed getting excited by his dead best friend's mom, so he looked down, only to notice that Mrs. Duval had been unconscious with her legs open and hadn't yet thought to make herself more modest. Seeing up her skirt made Manny realize that his pants were still unzipped and unbuttoned from when he was with Michael. Before he could move away, Mrs. Duval had wrapped her legs around Manny's back and pulled him closer with them.

"M-Mrs. Duval! What are you-?"

"Shhhhhhhh" Mrs. Duval whispered

Manny's heart began to race as Mrs. Duval pulled him in closer to her. Manny had no idea what was going on. He had just seen his best friend and lover die by his own hand in a horribly gruesome way, and now as Mrs. Duval pulled Manny closer and closer to her, strange feelings began to form inside Manny. He shuddered. He had never had a girl come on to him like this before. Much less an older woman who Manny had always thought was very pretty. Ever since Mr. Duval had died in the war, Manny had always been there for Mrs. Duval. He had thought it was the right thing to do in that situation considering his involvement with Michael. He had tried to be there to support her and now as he thought about their relationship, he realized he had wanted this for a very long time. But what was he doing? Not right after he had killed her son. No.

"Mrs. Duval, No!" Manny said sharply as he extricated himself from her soft, warm embrace. As Manny stood Mrs. Duval looked up at him with a fire in her intense red eyes. It was not the fire of anger, this was a fire Manny had never seen before and as he stared into them he realized it was a look that made him both uncomfortable and strong, it was a look that he liked. Her look was like an invisible rope that she used to pull him back closer to her.

"I know you want it", Mrs. Duval whispered into his ear. Her voice sent shivers up Manny's spine in a way he had never experienced. Something was moving inside of Manny and it was different from what he felt for Michael. Suddenly Manny couldn't breathe, the walls were closing in on him and the stench of Michael's already rotting corpse was too much to bear.

"Mrs. Duval I think I should leave" Manny said as he walked towards the door. "I need to think about everything" as Manny gingerly stepped over Michael's corpse he looked at the hole through Michael's head. "That's how I feel right now Michael, I'm so confused" Manny whispered to himself.

"Manny" Mrs. Duval said quietly, "Don't run from your feelings."

Manny hesitated for a second; then stepped out the door into the evening sky.

Chapter 2 – Love is a killer -

Manny shuffled down the path away from his best friend's house. He had been so preoccupied with californicating with his lover's mother that he had not even thought about what happened to the gelatinous blob of mutilated flesh that interrupted the homosensual moment in the bedroom just minutes ago.

Unbeknownst to him, the alien life form was stalking him, moving quietly through the grass behind him. Michael wasn't a very big meal, and the alien was looking for a second course.

Manny continued down the path, torn about what he should do. He thought he was in love with Michael, but after feeling a woman's touch for the first time, he finally knew what love truly was. Manny stopped dead in his tracks. "I love her." He whispered to himself.

Just as the hungry alien life form was coiling to strike, Manny turned around and ran back towards the house. He threw open the door, and looked around for Mrs. Duvall. He was in such a hurry he didn't watch his step, and slipped in the pool of blood surrounding his ex-lover's crumpled body. He picked himself off the bloodied floor and ran up the stairs, looking for his new love interest. "Why isn't she in the kitchen?" he asked himself as he jumped up the last two stairs.

He could hear quiet sobbing coming from Michael's room. He gently pushed open the door.

"Mrs. Duvall?"

She picked her head up slowly, a look of pleasant surprise on her face.

"Manny! You came back."

Manny just stood in the doorway. He hadn't thought about the potential awkwardness that his reappearance might have caused. Should he fling himself at her with reckless abandon and try to pick up where they left off? Perhaps the moment had passed and he should just try to comfort her. Mrs. Duvall made his decision for him, by ripping her shirt open and laying back on Michael's bed. She looked seductively at Manny as she said "Let's get it on."

Manny thought about saying "No. Go clean up the mess your son left downstairs." but instead he laid down next to Mrs. Duvall, who immediately climbed on top of him and started clawing at him frantically.

"I... Love... You..." Manny panted as he was being ridden like a horse at the Kentucky Derby. Manny opened his eyes, gazing up into his jockey's seemingly possessed face. In horror, Manny realized, for the second time that night, the alien being was about to take the love of his life. He screamed "NO!" as it stabbed Mrs. Duvall in the face and inserted its deadly skeet.

Between killing his best friend and nearly losing his virginity to said friend's mother, Manny had completely forgotten about the infector that had turned Michael into a monster. To his horror and dismay, Mrs. Duval's hips continued grinding on him as she began to turn. Her eyes rolled back like Michael's had before, while Manny tried to escape from beneath her, to no avail. Mrs. Duval's slight frame apparently had belied quite a bit of strength. She clutched Manny's shoulders tightly while grinding on him so aggressively that Manny thought that his pelvis was going to break from the onslaught. Manny was overcome with a mix of arousal and utter dread. This was the second time that someone he was about to make sweet, tender love to was infected with an alien parasite.

Mrs. Duval knew that she would soon become a disgusting creature like her son had done just minutes prior. A great feeling of helplessness came over her as she began to lose control of her body, and her eyes filled with tears once again as she realized her fate. She had never thought that she would die by mutating into a horrible beast while straddling her gay son's boyfriend. She managed to get a few words out before she was turned.

"Man...ny... I'm... sorry...

...I...love...you..."

Mrs. Duval began screaming while grabbing her head in agony. With her hands off of his shoulders, Manny saw an opportunity to escape. He pushed Mrs. Duval off of his body, getting a nice feel of her chest before bolting out the door for a second time. Manny got a very strong feeling of déjà vu as he sprinted down the stairs again, turning towards the door of the Duvals' house, only to be stopped in his tracks by the sight of Michael.

"Michael? I thought I killed you!" Manny sobbed as tears rolled down his eyes.

This time, however, Michael did not give Manny any time to get a weapon. He ran towards Manny and leaped towards his ex-lover. Manny dove into the kitchen, landing face-first on the floor. A sharp pain came to Manny's leg, followed by a feeling of warmth. Manny looked back and noticed the Michael had used one of his tentacles to cut off Manny's right leg from the knee down. Panicking, Manny looked around the kitchen floor and found the knife he had picked up before. As Michael lunged toward Manny's jugular for the killing blow, Manny put as much strength into his arm as he could muster and slashed off both of Michael's tentacles. Michael fell to the ground again, this time dead for real.

As the adrenaline wore off, Manny's leg started to bleed profusely as the pain of getting a limb chopped off began to set in. Manny screamed with his teeth clenched and began to sob profusely. This was easily the worst day of his entire life. The two people he cared most about were dead, and he would be too. And the day had started so great, too.

Just then, Manny heard a familiar, soft voice.

"Manny darling, why are you crying?"

Manny's ears perked up as he looked towards the source of the voice. To his amazement, Mrs. Duval was walking down the stairs. She hadn't mutated like Michael had. However, the hole on her forehead was still present, and blood was running down her eyes and mouth, which were both closed. Even though she was bloody and disheveled, Manny still found her beautiful.

"Mrs. Duval! You survived! Oh, thank goodness! Quick, call 911! We need an ambulance!"

As Mrs. Duval approached, Manny's momentary happiness came to an abrupt end. His vision became distorted, and the kitchen was bathed in orange light. What appeared to be writing of some sort appeared on the walls, which looked to be covered in possibly a bloodlike substance.

Mrs. Duval opened her eyelids, and a bright light shone forth from the empty sockets and her mouth, which now hung agape. Manny heard a sound like screaming, but inside his head rather than with his ears. Mrs. Duval kneeled down and positioned herself back on top of Manny and looked him dead in the eyes, the bright light blinding him. Though it hurt his eyes, he couldn't avert them or close them in any way.

"Manny... Make us whole..."

Her voice sounded as if it were played through a radio with a lot of static. Mrs. Duval placed her soft hand on Manny's cheek, wrapping it behind his head and pulling him towards her. As hard as he tried, Manny couldn't overpower the woman this time. His face was brought mere centimeters from the woman's face.

"_MAKE US WHOLE_!"

The next thing Manny felt was a sharp pain in his neck. As Manny's consciousness slipped by, Mrs. Duval removed the kitchen knife from Manny's jugular. She picked herself up off of the boy, who was now thoroughly drenched in the blood of three different people. As she stood up straight and began laughing hysterically, the infector waddled down the stairs and towards the now lifeless Manny.

Chapter 3 – Something's Fishy -

Mrs. Duval awoke with a start, she had just dreamed the most awful thing about her son and his friend. She hadnt even seen Manny in a very long time, and the circumstances surrounding their reunion in her dream were less than ideal. Mrs. Duval lay there, letting herself calm down. Her chest slowly rose and fell as the adrenaline that had spiked through her system only moments before dissipated. Her bed was warm with her body heat and it relaxed the Flareon. The flame retardant sheets had been expensive, but it was cheaper than buying a new bed every time she went to sleep. Mrs. Duval sighed, life was hard without Mr. Duval; his death in the war had left she and Michael to fend for themselves. His death hadn't been all bad however; Mrs. Duval would never be happy he had died, but she was a creature of passion, her motivation to actions were something he as a SlowKing had never grasped. These thoughts swirled through her head. She shook her head and pulled the covers back. Cool air greeted her exposed body and she lifted her trim figure out of bed. It was time for breakfast and she was hungry. She padded silently through the house, hardwood floors were something she had always found attractive in houses and had been a top priority when they had remodeled their house. She may be a single woman, but she supported herself and her son and kept the floors polished and immaculate. Eating off the floor was literally possible in the Duval home and Mrs. Duval took great pride in her God-given duty. Mrs. Duval nimbly descended the stairs and glanced into the kitchen; she stopped suddenly, her dream came back to her and she saw Michael's brains splattered all over the wall. She shuddered, what an awful dream.

"Michael?" she called "Are you there sweetie?"

"Yes mommy, I'm here" Michael replied in a nasally whine.

"I'm going to go get breakfast I'll be back later"

"Ok see you soon" Michael said.

Feeling reassured, Mrs. Duval descended the remainder of the stairs and walked out into the crisp morning sky.

Shirley Duval walked outside to the little pond that decorated the front of the Duval house. The Flareon lady bent down, her short shorts showing off her callipygian, and reached into the pond, pulling out one of the Feebas that swam about. Mrs. Duval had bought the rare fish Pokémon when she was still living in her old home with Marcus, her deceased husband. They cost a pretty penny, being one of the rarest creatures on Earth, but she had bought both a male and female and left them in the daycare center. Before she knew it, she had more Feebas than she knew what to do with. Since Feebas were so rare, she sold them to exotic pet stores and Pokémon trainers who wanted an ugly fish just because of their rarity. Thanks to her investment all those years ago, Shirley never had to work a day in her life.

What most people didn't know, however, is how Feebas became so rare in the first place. Many moons ago, a nutritional biologist found out that Feebas were one of the most nutritious foods in the world. Packed with Omega-3 fatty acids and lean proteins, Feebas became the hottest new food item, touted as an anti-aging miracle. The fish Pokémon was hunted to near extinction, until the only remaining wild population was centered in one tiny pond on a remote route in Hoenn. Now, Shirley had a larger chunk of the species' population than existed in the wild. And they were all hers.

Shirley returned to her house, clutching her fish to her chest. The water that ran off it made her shirt stick to her bosom. She didn't worry about anybody stealing her Feebas because everyone in the neighborhood knew that she had a Sentinel to guard her pond. A pre-nerf patch vanilla MvC3 Sentinel, not that Ultimate garbage. Before Capcom released a patch nerfing him, Sentinel in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 had the most health out of anyone else, even more than Thor. He was also the only character that had hyper armor on his normals. Shirley's Sentinel still had a bunch of untechable time on its Rocket Punch special, allowing for continued combos. Launch-day vanilla Sentinel had much more speed on his crouching medium as well, allowing for safe pokes from a distance to keep pressure on foes. If this connected, it could hit-confirm into his launcher, allowing the Sentinel to land a good three or four hits in the air before knocking the perpetrator to the ground. That wouldn't be the end, however, for the Sentinel could dash in, and by using a quarter-circle forward and light attack button would Rocket Punch them off the ground and chain into Plasma Storm by doing a quarter-circle forward and pressing two buttons, or if there was at least two meter stocked up, Sentinel could opt for a quarter-circle back with two buttons to activate Hyper Sentinel Force, from which he could DCH into another hyper as the drones continued to hit the foe for massive damage. In short, her pond was safe. The Flareon lady laid the Feebas on the kitchen table with a thud, almost spilling Michael's cereal. The boy got up from his seat and left. He knew what was coming. Mrs. Duval used her left paw to grip the fish in the gills on the underside of its body. She then grasped the tail of the fish Pokémon with her right hand and gave a quick strong tug. The Feebas' spine came away in her right hand as she deboned the fish in one expert movement. Mrs. Duval sat down in one of the four wooden chairs that surrounded their kitchen table. Lifting the fish up to her mouth Mrs. Duval used her snow white teeth to feast on the Feebas. As she chewed she could taste her favorite part of the fish, the swim bladder, on her tongue. She savored the flavor as she used her tongue to push the meat across her taste buds again and again. Mrs. Duval finished her meal and stood up; she glanced down at her body and sighed. Between the catching of the Feebas and eating it her shirt had become soaked and her chest was spattered with blood flecks and scales from the Feebas' deboning.

"Looks like I'm going to need a shower' Mrs. Duval thought to herself, as she cleaned the kitchen.

Being a woman, it took mere seconds for her to return the kitchen to its pristine cleanliness. Satisfied with her work, she headed upstairs to her bedroom to take a shower.

Chapter 4 – A Grape day -

Mrs. Duval entered her room and shut the door, she entered the master bathroom that was connected to her bedroom and walked lightly over to the shower. The bathroom was one of Mrs. Duval's favorite places, during the remodel of the house they had expanded and upgraded their master bathroom to house two sinks, a lava bath, and a glass shower. The sinks were made of glass themselves and set into a marble countertop. Mrs. Duval always loved how cool marble felt on her skin, regardless of the temperature. She had insisted on it when Marcus had been remodeling. The sink fixtures were a polished and shiny chrome, Mrs. Duval kept them clean enough to be able to see one's reflection in them at any moment. The marble surrounding the sinks was black with obsidian shot through it and had flecks of red metal embedded within the surface that glowed red at Mrs. Duval's touch, it was a rare material that was found only in the most remote regions of the world and with the war going on it was next to impossible to access. For Mrs. Duval it was just another reason to take pride in her home and the keeping of it. The floors of the bathroom were pure white marble squares separated by grout made from crushed shells that Omanyte has discarded. Traditionally possessing a more yellow hue, the Omanyte shells were bleached pure white by the sun and when ground up, made the perfect grout for the marble squares. The shiny white marble was also the flooring for the shower.

The shower by all accounts was unorthodox to say the least. The shower took up an 8 x 5 rectangle in the middle of the bathroom rather than being set into a wall. The pipes for the spout ran under the floor and came up through the glass pane that formed one of the walls of the shower; this 5 ft. glass pane formed the back portion of the shower and faced away from the sinks. Two 8ft long glass panes made the walls of the shower and ran parallel to each other away from the sink toward the lava bath, there was no 4th wall to the shower, instead, the marble adjoining the shower to the rest of the bathroom housed two lattice style box drains at the very end of the 8ft glass panes that served to keep water from escaping the shower. Basically the shower was the shape of a glass U with the bottom of the U nearer to the sink.

The end of the U pointed to Mrs. Duval's favorite part of the bathroom. The Lava Bath. The Lava Bath was installed by Marcus Duval as both a surprise and a gift to Mrs. Duval to let her pamper herself. Essentially the lava bath was for relaxation, Mrs. Duval being a Flareon, could not survive prolonged submersion in water without damage to herself or the bathtub. In extreme cases her body would flare up with intense heat in an effort to evaporate the water around her. As a young girl she had charred and cracked her bathtub a few times before she had given up on baths altogether. Showers had become the way to keep herself clean. The water pouring over her wasn't enough to endanger her as long as she wasn't submerged. Mr. Duval had seen this and decided to build her this lava bath so she could relax in warmth. The lava bath was made out of Obsidian rock and set against the wall. Incredibly expensive, the obsidian had been custom built as three layers of rock with a layer of gel cooled by liquid nitrogen in between the first two layers of rock to keep the lava from turning the rock back into lava. Between the two inside layers there was another layer of gel that absorbed the heat from the lava and magnified it to keep it hot and in a liquid state. This setup ensured that the lava tub would neither melt, nor be cold to the touch. Mrs. Duval loved to recline in the lava, letting the heat recharge her energy. All the grime and dirt that a normal person accumulated during the day was burned off by the lava and floated to the top in the form of dross, which would them be removed from the bath and when combined with compost from the kitchen, used as fertilizer in the Duval vegetable garden. Michael was a vegetarian because he was a pussy so Mrs. Duval grew vegetables to cater to his effeminate ways.

Mrs. Duval walked into the shower and turned the water to hot; she quickly skipped out of the shower before the water came on so she could go undress while the water heated up. Mrs. Duval walked back into her bedroom and began undressing; first she crossed her arms over her body and peeled her wet shirt off of her chest. Next Mrs. Duval gripped the waistband of her short shorts and pulled them down. Stepping out of her clothes Mrs. Duval bent over and picked them up off the floor, she stood up again and put the clothes in her hamper. She stood in full view of the large glass doors leading to the porch, she had forgotten to close the curtains, but she didn't mind. She had an amazing body and she knew it. Mrs. Duval wasn't necessarily promiscuous, but she secretly got a little of a thrill from the thought of someone being able to see her right now. She looked down at her body; her chest glistened from the sunlight reflecting off of the fish scales. The red blood stains from the feebas matched her natural red hue quite well. Her flat stomach was still wet from the water of the pond. Mrs. Duval shook her head to clear her thought. Admiring herself all day wasn't going to get anything accomplished. She turned away from the window and walked back into the bathroom. Mrs. Duval didn't even test the water; she just walked right in and let it pour over her.

The water cascaded over Mrs. Duval's body as she closed her eyes. The fish scales were stubborn at first, but the jets of water against her chest soon dislodged the offending fragments of Feebas. The water impacted on Mrs. Duval's skin and ran down her voluptuous body, hugging her slender form as it traced its way down to her toes. She loved the feeling of showers, it was like the water was a glove, it fit her body and clung to it no matter which way she turned. She turned toward the lava bath and let the water embrace her back. Mrs. Duval bent all the way over to scrub her toes of the mud from the pond bank. The water struck her back, exploding into dozens of tiny droplets across her neck and back, these droplets gradually collected and ran down her back, hugging her perfect ass, then descending the back of her legs and finally reaching the floor. The droplets ran into the drain, making way for more of their brothers to caress Mrs. Duval. Now that she was soaked, it was time for the soap. Mrs. Duval moved her hand over to the soap holder, she still had her eyes closed. She felt around until her hand found the fresh bar of soap. It was still wrapped, the label read "Paper Street Soap Company". It was without doubt the highest quality soap available. Mrs. Duval unwrapped the pink bar and rubbed it between her hands to work it into a lather. She began by pressing the bar of soap to her neck and pushing it along her skin. Mrs. Duval stepped out of the stream of water and continued to soap herself up. She slid the bar of soap down her neck and across her chest. Mrs. Duval took great care to coat her ample chest in suds as it was the reason she was in the shower in the first place. She worked a lather in her hands and ran them across her chest, she held her bloody gazongas in her hands, making sure to cover every inch of them with soap. One that was done, Mrs. Duval continued to slide the bar down her body, over her flat stomach, her flawless rear end, and down her legs. Mrs. Duval was now completely slathered in soap. She turned and set the bar of soap on the rack and stepped back into the rain of water once more. The rain washed over Mrs. Duval, rinsing the soap off of her stunning body. She reached up and turned off the water. She finally opened her eyes and looked down to examine herself. Her bosoms glistened with water, they were now clean as a whistle. Mrs. Duval stepped out of the shower; cool air greeted her bare body as she walked over to the sink. She picked up a bottle of lotion and squeezed a sizeable puddle of white goo into her hands. Mrs. Duval liked to keep her skin healthy and rubbed lotion into her skin daily.

Mrs. Duval rubbed the lotion into her arms, her skin felt good when she touched it. She massaged it into her ta-tas with great care, making sure to go over the surface of her skin several times. She caressed herself softly as she rubbed the lotion in lower down to her legs. Mrs. Duval needed a better position to rub the lotion into her legs. She exited the bathroom and walked over to her bed and sat on the edge, she leaned back and lifted one leg high in the air, she used her hands to rub the white goop in starting by her ankle and working her way up her thighs. When she had finished the other leg Mrs. Duval stood up, normally after a shower she walked around her room, she liked how it felt to air dry. But today she felt like getting dressed immediately. She walked over to her dresser. She opened the top drawer and took out a white t-shirt. she slipped it on, next she opened the drawer below and took put a pair of short red shorts. She stepped into the shorts and pulled them up. Both the shorts and the shirt were tight on her, but she didn't mind. She had finished primping and had now decided to head downstairs to see what Michael was up to. She bounced down the stairs and into the living room. Michael was sitting on the couch with his new boyfriend. Mrs. Duval took a deep breath.

"Hey there Modok, I didn't know you were coming over" Mrs. Duval said.

"Hello Mrs. Duval" Modok whined "I thought you'd be smart enough to realize I would be coming over since today is Saturday, guess you're not as smart as Modok!"

Mrs. Duval fought down a wave of revulsion. Modok was a Grade-A prick, she had hated that Michael was dating him, but there was little she could do. Michael thought she was too hard on him, but anyone who referred to themselves in the third person was an idiot in her book, regardless of how smart they claimed to be. Plus, he looked like a giant Elton John head, and that was just plain unsettling. The only way it could be worse is if he had been Canadian. Mrs. Duval shuddered, she didnt even want to think about it. She looked at Michael.

"Michael, can I speak to you please?...Privately?"

"Sure mommy" he whined.

"Listen honey, you really need to pack for the trip tomorrow" She said

"I know mommy I'll pack as soon as Modok leaves, can he stay for dinner? Please?"

"Ugh, Fine but he leaves right after"

"Thanks!" Michael replied as he turned and walked back into the living room. Mrs. Duval headed outside to gather the ingredients for dinner. The garden was only a short walk out the front door and when Mrs. Duval entered she grabbed a basket from the fence. As she walked through the garden she picked up various vegetables, lettuce heads, bell peppers, red onions, a few grape tomatoes, some carrots, and even a handful of olives from their solitary olive tree that grew against the house. Michael had never liked tomatoes, but they were for her, she thought for a moment about whether or not Modok liked tomatoes, and then decided she didn't care. Shirley turned and entered the house; she washed the ingredients one by one and put them in the salad. The carrots she diced up into little cubes and put them on the bed of lettuce, next came the rings of red onion, followed by slices of different colored bell pepper, then the olives, one by one on the top to finish it all off. She carried the bowl over to the table and set it right smack in the middle. She placed the necessary utensils around the table with napkins. Last she poured three glasses of lemonade and set one at each place. She looked over the table before she called the boys in to eat. It looked nice; it had been a while since she had cooked for three. Remembering the tomatoes, Mrs. Duval put them on top of her salad. She hesitated for a moment, and then popped one into Michael's glass of lemonade with a chuckle.

"Michael! Modok! Time for dinner!" she called. Mrs. Duval took her seat and crossed her legs. Michael and Modok entered the kitchen. Modok hovered over to his chair while Michael sat quickly.

"Hope you like salad Modok!" Mrs. Duval said.

"Hmmmmmmm." Modok said before picking up a diced carrot. "Analyze Cube!" he yelled. Mrs. Duval looked quizzically at Michael. Michael leaned over and whispered:

"He does that occasionally, it doesn't seem to mean anything" He shrugged. Mrs. Duval just shook her head. The rest of the meal passed without incident until Michael picked up his glass to take a drink.

"Mom!" he yelled as he slammed his glass back down, Mrs. Duval cracked up.

"Ahahahaha I'm sorry honey I couldn't resist." She laughed. Michael scowled as he gingerly picked the tomato out of his glass and put it in the sink. The salad disappeared quickly and soon dinner had ended. After dinner they all stood, Modok turned to Mrs. Duval and said

"Where's the bathroom inferior?" in his weird half shouting voice. Mrs. Duval raised one eyebrow at Modok and turned and walked away, she had gotten mad instantly he said that. Michael pointed Modok down the hall to the bathroom and then came into the living room at Mrs. Duval's call.

"Michael if you don't teach Modok some manners I will" she said "He needs to learn how he's allowed to speak to me and what is appropriate, and honey, he's also pretty weird" Just then Modok could be heard yelling in the bathroom "Hyper Psionic Blaster!" followed by a loud splash. Michael nodded.

"I'll talk to him when I walk him out mommy then I'll get right to packing ok?"

"Ok honey, make sure you come say goodnight before you go to bed I'll be up packing too" She replied. Michael nodded and Shirley walked up the stairs to her bedroom and began packing. The business trip the two Duvals were going on was one to Philadelphia. Although not technically employed Mrs. Duval occasionally fielded bids for her Feebas pond from interested parties. Tomorrow's trip was one such occasion. She usually turned down such meetings, but something inside her told her to hear what these people had to offer for the pond. Plus, even if she didn't accept an offer from them, she was going to spend the rest of the week in the city with Michael to spend time with him. That, if nothing else, would make the trip worthwhile. Mrs. Duval finished packing. It was only a few days, but Mrs. Duval had packed a huge suitcase with most of her clothes. She needed to be prepared. She looked at the clock, its read 8:08, it was time for bed, and she needed to wake up very early. Just as she was getting ready to go tell Michael goodnight he entered her room.

"Mommy I finished packing I'm going to go to bed I'm exhausted ok?" he said

"Ok, goodnight sweetie, I'm going to bed now too, see you bright and early."

Both Duvals returned to their rooms, shut off the lights, and went to sleep.

Chapter 5 – Trains of Thought -

"Tickets please" the conductor asked. Mrs. Duval snapped out of thought.

"Oh here you are, I'm sorry" she said as she handed the conductor her and Michael's tickets.

"Thank you ma'am, enjoy your ride" he said as he verified the tickets. Ever since the war began to go poorly for them, train officials, among others, had become much more wary. No one knew what a Locust spy looked like. Rumor had it that they used skin and hair and nails from their prisoners to blend in to society. The machines were the ones that did this obviously, their Locust allies would be ill suited to take the form of a human. The machines, Mrs. Duval let out a sigh; the war had been going poorly enough with the Locust before the machine uprising. Turning all of their defenses over to a single Artificially Intelligent construct had almost resulted in the Coalition of Ordered Government's undoing. The Construct had already been responsible for the entire exhaustion of every nuclear weapon on friendly cities, and Mrs. Duval thought with a tear in her eye, the death of Mr. Duval. She pushed aside her feelings. She needed to be strong for Michael. She figured the lack of a dominating male influence in Michael's life had been partially responsible for his decision to go gay. She was trying to be as strong of a role model as she could, lest he go to even greater lengths to secure male affection. Mr. Duval used to be Michael's best friend, but the war had been going on for so long now that she feared Michael didn't even remember the times they had shared. Things were so much easier back then. Mrs. Duval could remember the day they had all gone down to the Feebas pond for a picnic. Mr. Duval played catch with little Michael as she had sat on their blanket and watched. The sun was warm and friendly back then, and Mrs. Duval had memories of many such days down at the pond. She remembered the day they had been fishing and a helicopter had swooped overhead, landing by their house. That was the day Mr. Duval had left. As he kissed her and Michael goodbye Mrs. Duval didn't know then, but it was the last time she would ever see him. He had been killed when the machines came online. She sighed once more, enough of these thoughts. Their train was pulling into Philadelphia, she and Michael stepped out into the rain.

"Michael, did you pack the umbrellas like I asked?" Mrs. Duval queried.

"Yeah they're right here" Michael whined loudly. He took their two umbrellas out of his backpack and handed Shirley hers. She opened it quickly to avoid getting soaked by the rain. Her umbrella was a plain white and red one that was slightly angular on the edges. She had gotten it from this corporation on their last visit as a token of thanks for her coming to hear their offer. She didn't know why but she liked the design immensely. She glanced over at Michael and groaned. He had opened his rainbow umbrella and was smiling.

"Where did you get that honey?" She asked.

"It was a gift from Modok mommy" Michael replied. Shirley just shook her head and grabbed Michaels hand and they walked away from the platform. Mrs. Duval had barely raised her arm when a cab screeched to a halt in front of them.

"Ey baby you need a ride eh?" The cab driver said as he rolled down the window. Mrs. Duval looked at his nameplate on his dashboard. It read "Taco." She felt herself getting hot, she liked exotic guys.

"Yes please, were all wet sir" she said and gave him puppy dog eyes, literally. He smiled and switched the toothpick he was chewing on to the other side of his mouth.

"Hop in baby, I'll take you all the way to Mexico if you need me to" he said as he stepped out into the rain to help them load their bags. He noted with special interest the extra baggage Mrs. Duval was carrying on her chest. He would certainly like to help her with those bags, but he decided to play it cool.

"All loaded Ms." He smiled

"Oh, thank you, you're such a strong man" Mrs. Duval flirted. His face turned red as he climbed back into the car. Mrs. Duval sat inside with Michael and sighed with relief as he put his headphones in. She had heard just about as much of his grating little voice as she could stand on the train ride. Now she was free to flirt with this man named Taco on the way to her meeting.

"So Taco, where are you from?" She said

"I hail from the lovely land of Mexico madam, although I'm half Australian" he said with another smile. "And you?"

"I'm from the U.S.A." she laughed, "and I think it used to be pretty lovely myself."

"It is **very** lovely" he said while admiring her ample form in the mirror, "the scenery is amazing." He said as she smiled,

"I'm glad you're such a fan" "I would hate for all this beautiful scenery to go to waste on someone who doesn't appreciate looking at such things" She said as she arched her back to stretch. Taco's eyes were glued to the mirror at this point and he was forced to swerve to avoid hitting a truck. Mrs. Duval giggled softly and relaxed into the seat. It was then that she noticed several bobble heads on the dashboard.

"Are you a fan of bobble heads too?" she said

"I'm a collector" he said, still embarrassed by their near accident. The rest of the cab ride passed uneventfully. Within 20 minutes they had arrived at their destination. The rain had slowed to a drizzle and it was easy for them to unload their baggage. Mrs. Duval turned to look at Taco;

"Taco, I think I lost my wallet, I don't have any money" She said with sadness in her eyes as she walked over to the driver side window. Mrs. Duval leaned down and rested her arms on the open window, giving Taco a top down view of her class-A luggage. Taco fumbled for words as his eyes failed to meet Shirley's.

"I do have this though, is that ok?" she said as she handed him a little slip of pink paper. He opened it up, inside was a 10-digit number. Shirley winked at Taco and he blushed.

"Thanks baby, this'll cover it." He said and smiled. Shirley stood up and waved goodbye. As Taco drove off she smiled; they were all the same. She turned and she and Michael walked inside. Their meeting wasn't scheduled for another half hour, but she liked to be early all the same. Her heels clicked on the tile floor as she approached the reception desk. She glanced down and noticed she was walking over the same design that was on her umbrella. This one was much larger and spanned a good 20 feet of the tile. She looked up, no time for idle thoughts.

Chapter 6 – Umbrella of Protection –

"Hey Fiona" Mrs. Duval said to the receptionist. Fiona looked up from her book

"Mrs. Duval!" She said excitedly, "It's been so long since I last saw you and Michael! How have you been?"

"We've been great, busy, but really good" Mrs. Duval said

"Aw, that's so great" Fiona replied "Your meeting is at 3, I'll have someone come and take Michael and the luggage to the hotel for you" Fiona picked up the phone and called over one of her assistants. Fiona noticed Michael's rainbow umbrella, she frowned and looked at Mrs. Duval. Mrs. Duval extended her pointer fingers and pushed them together repeatedly while rolling her eyes. Fiona's long red hair slid off her shoulders as she shook her head. Just then Fiona's assistant came to take Michael to the hotel.

"Bye Honey I'll see you later tonight" Mrs. Duval said as he waved goodbye.

"What book are you reading so intently, Fiona?" Mrs. Duval said as she turned back to reception. Fiona smiled.

"It's this really good book about how all civilized races get wiped out by these unfeeling creatures. Their homes get destroyed too and the creatures burn the world to cinders, it's really good." She replied. "Oh, but hey it's almost 3, you better get up there." Mrs. Duval looked at the clock.

"Oh you're right, ok well it's been great talking Fiona, take care of yourself!" Mrs. Duval said as she turned to go.

"Wait before you go, about Michael" Fiona began, "I—"Save it Fiona," Mrs. Duval interrupted, "You know I don't need sympathy"

"Oh no, I was just going to say that if Michael is looking he could go crash cars with my friend Joey" Fiona said with a smile. She and Mrs. Duval teased each other quite a bit. Mrs. Duval's mouth opened in a surprised smile.

"No actually he's taken; I'll have to tell you about his boyfriend later, he could literally use his body as a battering ram." She said. Fiona winced as Mrs. Duval walked away.

"Good luck!" Fiona called after her.

Mrs. Duval sat in the conference room waiting for the men to enter. The meeting was just about to start. The conference room was dark, holographic screens lined the walls, idle for now, they held a representation of the company's logo spinning slowly; they could spring to life at a moment's notice. Very sophisticated. All of a sudden the doors at the end of the room opened and three men walked in, two with brown hair and the third with blonde. The blonde one wore sunglasses, strange for a room so dark. But she was used to this, it had been this way each time she had come here so far.

"Mrs. Duval" the blonde man said, "very nice to see you again".

"Chairman Wesker," she responded, "the pleasure is mine." He smirked. Mrs. Duval's eyes followed him as he sat. Mrs. Duval was young and attractive, she had many admirers in her life and had done the admiring a fair portion as well. But there were only two men she really considered attractive. Marcus had been one, Albert the other. His air of power coupled with his looks were dangerous from a business standpoint. She had kept her wits about her in their dealings up until now, that was why she still owned the Feebas pond. She and Albert had had ….dealings in the past, ones not entirely of a business nature. They had history. But that was nothing to think about presently, so Shirley focused on the situation at hand. One of the brown haired men began to speak.

"Mrs. Duval, we obviously would have not asked you to come out here without good reason. As you know, the Feebas have become increasingly rare as of late. Supplies were thin before the war, but now with the Locust and their Machine allies, access to the ponds of wild Feebas has become nearly nonexistent.. A hold on the only known location where Feebas have been known to breed in captivity presents a solid economic investment for such a corporation and one that we would like to make. Do you remember our previous offer?"

"Yes," Mrs. Duval replied, "I remember you offered me 4 million for my entire estate, including the pond."

"That is correct." The brown haired man replied. "We are now prepared to offer you ten million dollars for the rights to your Feebas. Mrs. Duval, this is obviously a significant increase from our last offer, but before you say anything I would like to let you know that in addition to this generous offer you would still own the pond, and the house. Your entire estate would belong to you Mrs. Duval; all we would be buying would be the rights to the fish, provided they stay in your pond." Mrs. Duval sat back with an eyebrow raised. There was more to this, such a purchase was uncharacteristic of the corporation.

"What is your interest in the Feebas?" Mrs. Duval said. "Logic would lead me to conclude that a pharmaceutical company such as this would be interested in the Feebas for their anti-aging and regenerative properties. However it is well known that attempts to synthesize this gene, or chemical, have failed. Our technology is simply not advanced enough to decode the DNA sequence of a Feebas. Their DNA is like a symphony of complexity and fragility, and attempts to dissect it result in the complete collapse of order into random strings of amino acids. Since it is unlikely then, to assert that your interest in them is for pharmaceutical gain, I turn to economic profit. I know my pond, and I know you aren't stupid; a ten million dollar investment that will take years upon years to mature with a war looming very near is not a wise choice for a chairman. Logically, I would conclude that there is something you're not telling me, and if that is the case, I'm leaving. Marcus helped me build that pond from the ground up, and the last thing he would want me to do is sell it to some shady corporation without knowing why."

"Our interest is purely economic, they are an inves-"Gentlemen," Wesker interrupted. "You may leave"

"Yes, Sir." The brown haired men replied. Chairman Wesker waited for them to leave and then leaned forward.

"Shirley, I apologize, they do not know how smart you are." He smiled.

"Albert what is going on? If you don't tell me the truth I'm walking." Mrs. Duval threatened.

"All right, listen, I can't tell you exactly what we need the Feebas for, it's a security breach, but I can give you an idea. You said yourself that all of our attempts to dissect and synthesize the regenerative powers of the Feebas have failed correct?" Wesker said.

"Well yes, you can't put a Feebas in a pill." She replied.

"With the war going on we have decided to broaden our horizons as far as what the company does and as a result we have acquired a weapons contract from the Coalition of ordered Governments. Shirley, you know were losing this war, we need something big to turn it around, and were going to give it to them." Wesker said.

"I don't understand." Mrs. Duval said.

"Picture this," he said "A farmer is out in his field picking wheat, he saves the grain because it is good, it is superior; he then throws away the chaff, the refuse, the useless husk. The farmer is natural selection, the COG vs. the Locust, it is up to us to show the farmer which is wheat, and which is chaff. Shirley, without the Feebas we will be the chaff that gets cast aside. The Feebas are the key we need to escape this winnowing process."

"But how Albert? How can the Feebas be used?" Mrs. Duval said in confusion.

"Their DNA," He said, "We've tried to crack it for decades, when we try to synthesize it and put it in a pill, it dies. It cannot exist outside living tissue. I have been researching a way when I finally realized. Living tissue is the key. An organism with pieces of the Feebas DNA code would have unimaginable regenerative abilities, the organism would never tire, and it would be nearly indestructible. Such a miracle is worth far more than 10 million, I'm prepared to offer you 30 million for your pond. Mrs. Duval, we can win this war is we have the Feebas" Mrs. Duval didn't understand fully what Wesker was saying, but to help kill the monsters who had killed her husband…that was worth selling the Feebas.

"Chairman Wesker, I accept." she said.

"Excellent, I knew you would see things our way" Wesker said. "Here is the paperwork; I just need your signature on this line." He said as he pushed a stack of papers across the table toward Mrs. Duval. Shirley signed on the line and stood. She knew she was doing the right thing, but she still felt like part of her was in that pond with the Feebas, and she had just sold that part of herself to this massive corporation. She shook hands with Chairman Wesker, just then one of the brown haired men burst in.

"Chairman Wesker!" He said "The Locust have re-emerged!"

"Where?" Wesker snapped,

"Haven sir…it's gone." The brown haired man replied. Fear gripped Mrs. Duval's chest, Haven was a town full of short friendly little people not 2 miles from her home.

"Damn it!" Wesker said

"Is the whole area destroyed?" Mrs. Duval asked with apprehension.

"We don't know Ma'am, the Locust have Machines with them, we can't get close enough to see what's going on."

"Enough!" Wesker said to the man. "Accelerate work on The Project and mobilize S.T.A.R.S. and have them meet me at our forward operating base by tonight."

"Yes sir!" The man said and hurried out. Wesker turned to Mrs. Duval.

"Shirley, I know you're worried, go be with your son, I'll let you know the situation as soon as I find out more." Wesker said

"Ok, thank you." Mrs. Duval replied slowly, still numb with shock.

"I have to prepare, you know the way out." Wesker said and walked briskly out of the room. Mrs. Duval gathered her things and walked out of the conference room. She should be glad; she had just secured 30 million dollars. No, Mrs. Duval wasn't a cold hearted businessman, her house was gone, she knew it, and the people of Haven…she didn't want to think of it. The Locust had rarely taken prisoners before and the Machines never did. She snapped out of it. She needed to get to Michael; his weak constitution wouldn't be able to handle the news very well. She walked quickly down the stairs and out into the lobby. The rain had escalated into a torrential downpour; people in black were hurrying in and out of the rain quickly. The entire place had come alive. It was odd for a pharmaceutical company to respond so markedly to an attack. She didn't have time to think of that right now, she searched for Fiona at the desk, she wasn't there. Mrs. Duval took a deep breath and stepped out into the rain.

Chapter 7 – Candle in the Rain –

An aura of smoke enveloped the young Flareon as she hurried down the sidewalk toward the hotel. Rain hurtled down from the clouds only to hit her hot skin and evaporate.

"Where there is smoke there is fire." She thought to herself.

Thoughts whirled in Shirley's head as she walked toward the hotel. She had always been strong so she assumed the worst. If her home was destroyed she and Michael could live in Philadelphia, She was tired of shouldering life by herself. To have an old friend such as Wesker close by in case of emergency was comforting. Despite her reluctance to sell, Mrs. Duval deep down was glad she had done it. 30 million dollars aside, she wanted to help the war effort. Albert made it seem like they were developing a new weapon for the COG and her Feebas were instrumental. She hoped he was right. They needed something big to defeat their combined enemy. The Lightmass bomb had destroyed the Kryll Hives, but the Machines were impervious to it. They needed a game changer. Shirley reached the hotel and walked inside.

"Duval please" She said to the clerk behind the desk. He handed her the key for room 302.

"Thank you" She said as she walked toward the elevator. She was already dry. She entered the elevator and pushed the up button. Third floor room, her favorite. She liked the view from up there. Moments later Shirley arrived at her room and opened the door. Michael was sitting on the floor in a bright yellow leotard with the phone in his lap. The sight of him lightened her heart considerably.

"Hi honey!" she said as he got up to give her a hug. "I missed you how are you?"

"I'm ok mommy, I missed you too" He replied with a smile on his face.

"What have you been doing this whole time?" Mrs. Duval asked.

"Just messing around really, Hey have you seen a little slip of pink paper in our luggage anywhere?" He asked. "It had Modok's number on it I was gonna call him." Mrs. Duval barely stifled a laugh.

"No honey I haven't seen it" she said with a smile. A sudden thought quickly sobered her. Modok lived in Haven. She brushed it off.

"Hungry?" she asked. Michael nodded.

Soon they were feasting on a dinner of salad and a raccoon Mrs. Duval had seen wandering around in the hotel. After dinner Michael retreated to his room to go to sleep. Shirley stayed up a little while longer hoping for a call from Wesker. It never came. Around 8:05 Mrs. Duval glanced at the clock. It was almost bedtime. Today had been a busy day; she had travelled all the way from Haven to Philadelphia to meet with Wesker. In a few short moments she had sold her most treasured possession and learned of its destruction. Her eyelids drooped. She would have to wait until morning to think through all this. It was just too much right now. Mrs. Duval stood and walked into her bedroom. Stripping down she looked at herself in the mirror. She had dark circles under her eyes. Hopefully a good night sleep would fix those. She was going apartment hunting tomorrow.

End of Part 1


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